Poms pasted in Paris
14 Sep 2007
The prophecy of an England pummeling came to pass when South Africa secured a 36-0 whitewash in St Denis.
With only two pool matches remaining against the USA and Tonga, the Boks are certain to top Pool A. By beating England, they have secured an easier path to the semi-finals.
The way South Africa began it appeared as if a 50-pointer was on the cards. After the initial exchanges, JP Pietersen broke down the blindside off a line-out and found Fourie du Preez in good support. The Bok scrumhalf lost his footing but was still able to set up flanker Juan Smith for a well worked try.
What followed was an all out assault on the England back three. South Africa dominated the line-outs and the ball never went further than first-receiver, where one of Butch James, Frans Steyn or Du Preez would send it into orbit. Their accuracy was telling, with the likes of Jason Robinson often caught out by the Bok chasers. Du Preez also showed some great vision when kicking infield off a penalty, finding space and Jaque Fourie collecting off the run. Unfortunately, the centre lost the ball just before he tried to place the ball over the line.
England were rudderless without Jonny Wilkinson, with Andy Farrell and Mike Catt producing poor efforts in clearing from the flyhalf channel. The number of mistakes the duo made in this position was also unacceptable, be it through a misdirected kick or spilled ball, it just served to heap more pressure on an already battered English defence.
Victor Matfield provided the platform from the line-out, while his second row partner Bakkies Botha got through an exemplary amount of work around the park. The South African scrum were also strong at scrumtime even though they received little opportunity to attack.
Wikus van Heerden was a worthy understudy to Schalk Burger, carrying the ball up strongly and pilfering a few balls off the deck. His cleaning around the rucks was also integral to quick ball, as this enabled the South African kickers to drive the English back into their own half.
Du Preez was in masterful form from the base, be it with ball in hand or with his formidable boot. He created the first try for Smith and then sparked the second just before half-time, stepping past a rushing defender and surging upfield. He drew the last man superbly before freeing up Pietersen, who raced in unopposed and ensured the Boks went to the break with a 20-0 advantage.
England persisted with their tight tactics but the poor attack evident in the World Cup warm ups was once again the inhibitor. Catt never challenged the Bok defence and Farrell was equally impotent. Anybody who expected a surprise in the department would have been bitterly disappointed. But conventional wisdom would suggest this group wasn’t numerous.
England scrapped, but South Africa never allowed the play to become scrappy. They continued to pin the Poms back in their own half, and the killer blow was delivered in the 64th minute through Pietersen’s second try. Du Preez was the orchestrator once again, benefitting from a great forward platform to race round the blindside and direct a simple run in for the South African right winger.
The gap between the two sides was gigantic, but South Afirca never shifted from third gear. They cruised to this win and at the same time ensured England suffered the ultimate humiliation by never securing a point.
For all his magic, Du Preez will be a concern for the Boks after clutching his troublesome shoulder late in the second half. He was duly substituted and the South Africans will hope there is not further damage.
England may not be so lucky, with Robinson pulling up with looked to be a serious hamstring injury. Although Wilkinson and Olly Barkley should be fit for the playoffs, the loss of the veteran should hit England just as hard. Jamie Noon was also stretchered from the field in the dying minutes and could also miss the deciding game against Samoa.
If this game confirmed anything it was that the Webb Ellis Trophy will change hands by the end of this tournament. The big question for England is whether they can surpass Samoa and qualify for the playoffs. On this sort of effort, even the most ardent English fan may be in doubt.
South Africa – Tries: Juan Smith, JP Pietersen (2). Conversions: Percy Montgomery (3). Penalties: Francois Steyn, Montgomery (4).
England – None.
By Jon Cardinelli
601 Comments
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14 Sep 2007, 23:21 pm
Only in Rugby can you be up 23nil and 33nil up and still take a shot at goal from a penalty.
14 Sep 2007, 23:22 pm
Captain.
Guessing you’re not crazy about him then?
14 Sep 2007, 23:22 pm
How sweet the feeling!
14 Sep 2007, 23:23 pm
The Boks must have still thought the poms could come back…not a good sign if your captain still thinks the games not safe with 23 points on the board. Still there for the taking.
14 Sep 2007, 23:23 pm
Get rid of Chuckie a disgrace in the Boks tracksuit – let the players run the team. Chuckie could not do the job with the Wobbablies so he is handing onto the coat tails of the Boks.
14 Sep 2007, 23:23 pm
Hi Cappies
14 Sep 2007, 23:23 pm
mmmmmmmm…….
Thats the sounds of me basking in smugness at England’s complete humiliation……
14 Sep 2007, 23:23 pm
Flame, I’ve been subdued to his nonsensical drivel for months leading up to this match.
And still he comes out complaining about not being able to field their best team.
Plonker.
14 Sep 2007, 23:24 pm
#199 SABRIEF – what utter arrogance and short sightedness. You sir, are not only blind, but a typical A class bulls supporter. You are the kind that give the other 85% a bad name. get over yourself!
14 Sep 2007, 23:24 pm
Hallo Boerie!!!
14 Sep 2007, 23:24 pm
Feel a little sorry for Martin Corry and Jason Robinson, Easter stood out and Lewsey otherwise nothing much happened, Catt is passed it and not the man to drive an attack, rugby has changed since ’03, its about game breaking supremo’s now like we saw from FdP and JP, their instincts for the right gap was flawless tonight and Steyn, Bakkies, Wickus had monumental games in defense.
14 Sep 2007, 23:24 pm
Rugby hunter
It’s test rugby not basketball s14
14 Sep 2007, 23:25 pm
#199 lol what a typical responce, no one is ever happy. if we beat them by 50 it shouyld have been 60 lol. that was a very very solid win, we never even opened up the game they just did what they had to. That is a very big warning shot to everyone else.
Limeys were simply not allowed to do anything, anytime you looked at a pomn he was bleeding LMFAO.
14 Sep 2007, 23:26 pm
That interviewer after the match is a ****.
He didn’t even offer Corry a tissue.
14 Sep 2007, 23:26 pm
#209 AGREE 100%
14 Sep 2007, 23:26 pm
Farrell is not the real deal he is the real dud!
14 Sep 2007, 23:26 pm
It is the best game by an SA scrumy I have seen since Jooste was at his best. Maybe even better.
14 Sep 2007, 23:27 pm
#204 – Why must a team take risks by opting for lineouts and scrums? Take the points, preserve the players for the rest of the competition!
14 Sep 2007, 23:28 pm
Big Hit – I told you that you were setting yourself up for a beating but hats off to you for showing up here tonite and a salute of respect to Kia for the congrats!
MY BLOOD IS GREEN!!!
14 Sep 2007, 23:29 pm
England were lucky to score ZERO . . . . HA HA HA !!
14 Sep 2007, 23:29 pm
France should finally be a fantastic place to be. All the English should be back home by tomorrow morning.
14 Sep 2007, 23:30 pm
Steyn was always in the thick of it every midfield attempt was thwarted either by Steyn or Bakkies or van Heerden, they were all three hero’s tonight.
14 Sep 2007, 23:30 pm
SABrief…Pass the joint will you coz you are stoned!
14 Sep 2007, 23:30 pm
#199 – We are supporting SA rugby now, not the Bulls. Take the horn out your hole, the S14 is over!
14 Sep 2007, 23:30 pm
CLINICAL! DISCIPLINED PERFORMANCE!!!!!
14 Sep 2007, 23:31 pm
Goodnight from Helsinki bok supporters of the world!
14 Sep 2007, 23:31 pm
:clap:
Well done Bokke!!!!!
14 Sep 2007, 23:31 pm
Dont get me wrong – great win for the Boks! Just the English are terrible – you have to admit that? At least we wont hear them crowing about how poor South African rugby is or Southern Hemisphere for that matter. Still not sold on our backline play – I think that is where the 25% improvement can be made the Smitt was referring to in the post match interview.
14 Sep 2007, 23:32 pm
paul dobson had england by 3 on the planetrugby.com preview. now he has his mum to suck his balls.
14 Sep 2007, 23:32 pm
Soda, thought she did it anyway.
14 Sep 2007, 23:33 pm
SABRIEF, you just called it Bulls rugby, and now the backline is not up to scratch? Bad correspondence coaching from Heyneke then?
14 Sep 2007, 23:34 pm
only on special occassions. i’ll never visit that site again. what utter bullshit.
14 Sep 2007, 23:34 pm
195 Flame yeah the boy is class and he’s got the mindset of a winner who won’t shirk his defensive duties, he was first to many midfield encounters and dealt with Farrell and some of Corry’s or Easter’s breaks.
14 Sep 2007, 23:34 pm
Paul Dobson is a dinosaur! He probably still thinks that the try is still worth 3 points!
14 Sep 2007, 23:35 pm
I wouldn’t call them breaks. Maybe one…
14 Sep 2007, 23:35 pm
Well done boys,
You’ve really made us proud.
The greatest thing about this win is the complete control they showed. They executed the plan perfectly, took their chances and finished most of them off and played clean with hardly any penalties until the last ten minutes. That is the way to win World Cups.
England were beyond rubbish besides a few brave soldiers. I can’t work out if it’s the lack of top quality players or is Ashton completely out of his depth.
14 Sep 2007, 23:36 pm
Actually I am a Sharks supporter – if you really want to get into it. And yes the backline interplay will need to be better if we are to win the RWC 2007.
14 Sep 2007, 23:36 pm
Die Vrede van Vereniging is gewreek!
14 Sep 2007, 23:36 pm
I thought our scrum was poor… we lost three tightheads which is bloody rare!! Anyone else notice this??
BJ Botha definitely didn’t have the upper hand on Andrew Sheridan.
On a more positive note, I was very impressed with our 9, 10 and 12 tonight. They played extremely well.
Looking ahead, I hope we can put in a good performance with regards to distributing the ball out to the wings.
My team for Tonga would be the following.
15. JP Pietersen
14. Akona Ndungane
13. Jaque Fourie
12. Francois Steyn
11. Ashwin Willemse
10. Butch James
9. Ricky Janaurie
8. Bob Skinstad
7. Danie Rossouw
6. Wickus van Heerden
5. Bakkies Botha
4. Albert vd Bergh
3. CJ van de Linde
2. Bismark du Plessis
1. Gurthro Steenkamp
16. Gary Botha
17. BJ Botha
18. Victor Matfield
19. Juan Smith
20. Ruan Pienaar
21. Andre Pretorius
22. Wynand Olivier
The reason behind keeping our halfback pairing and centre combination would be to get them confident with regards to distributing the ball to the wings…
JP Pietersen at fullback is important since he is effectively our replacement should Percy be injured in the game.
14 Sep 2007, 23:36 pm
Professional and clinical performance.No matter how bad England were/are we still gave them a good hiding.Samoa game is going to be very interesting.
14 Sep 2007, 23:36 pm
It’s because the average age of the English team is 32.
14 Sep 2007, 23:36 pm
Brilliant manne!!!
Keep it up!!!
LOL: I guess that old **** Ashton has learned to include SA into his plans to the trophy now!
England reduced to having to worry about Samoa!!! Priceless!!!
Hey, were can we get those navy blue shirts the bok team uses in training? My wife will buy me one to have a chance to get her hands on the green one to wash it
)
14 Sep 2007, 23:37 pm
Ok runs then not breaks
14 Sep 2007, 23:38 pm
Daar kak die Poms die 2e keer in een dag!!!!!!
14 Sep 2007, 23:38 pm
#239 You are right, our scrums were a bit poor in the 1st half..must be a bit of a concern.
14 Sep 2007, 23:38 pm
239.The scrums were a bit dissapointing but I’m sure they can sort it out.
14 Sep 2007, 23:38 pm
#236 – True, I was very impressed with the discipline showed by the boks! I think that they only conceded 7 or 8 penalties and very few for playing the ball in the ruck! This was the most impressive, IMHO!
14 Sep 2007, 23:38 pm
good comeback skop!
14 Sep 2007, 23:39 pm
If Dallaglio played the average age of the team would’ve increased to 41.
14 Sep 2007, 23:40 pm
Soda #229
Remember AB vs France in 1999? Remember AB vs Aus in 2003? Remember the Boks vs Aus in the first Tri-nations game this year? Remember how Ireland sukkeled against Namibia in this RWC?
Paul Dobson had a valid point. If the complacent “we just have to pitch to win” Bok team had shown up tonight, it would have been a very different story. Thankfully for SA supporters everywhere (including Paul Dobson – his a big one) the real Boks showed up and did us proud.
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